Child Focused Community Development

Projects that support child focused capacity building within the community

Community development programs aim to improve the wellbeing of all members of the community by providing opportunities for them to address common issues in ways that break down barriers and reduce isolation. Community development processes can be a powerful tool in enabling communities to reach their potential.

Good Beginnings uses a community development approach, called the Connect Approach, to develop and run programs that assist children, families, communities, local services and governments to define their own needs and develop programs of action based on these needs, using existing resources and community strengths. It is an unstructured, evolving response aimed at finding local solutions to local issues.

Programs based on community development principles have several major benefits:

• They respond directly to needs identified by the community and are therefore relevant.
• They can result in a high degree of involvement and commitment among community members, and as a result are more likely to lead to community change.
• They allow for unstructured experimentation that can eventually lead to the development of more structured community programs.

Good Beginnings community development-based programs have their own benefits:

• They identify and build on strengths while acknowledging that each community has its own unique circumstances.
• They facilitate the development of strong links between agencies that work with children, families and communities to ensure that all levels of government and non-government organisations maintain children, families and communities as a priority.
• They support families and communities in their efforts to raise their children, respecting racial, sexual, religious, cultural and socio-economic differences.

Click on the links below to find out more about some of our community development projects:

• Turn Around Project (Elizabeth, SA)
• Grey Connect (Palmerston, NT)
• Childcare Links (Palmerston, NT)

Turn Around Program

The Turn Around Program (TAP) operates across four primary schools and the Elizabeth Grove Community Campus Children’s Centre, and is an all-of-community student program for children from birth that extends beyond the boundaries of the classroom to provide educational, social and health services to students and their families.

TAP is located in one of the most disadvantaged areas of South Australia, in a community characterised by high social need and compound disadvantage resulting from intergenerational unemployment, poverty and transience.

TAP is community driven, with different programs operating at each school consistent with the needs and wants of local families. The services on offer include counselling for children and parents, family intervention, and a range of groups for children and parents. The issues covered in the groups range from self-esteem, depression and anxiety to homework, gardening and art.

Several agencies and partner organisations are involved in the program, including the University of South Australia, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Kids N You Family Services, Playford Community Health, CAMHS, Northern Domestic Violence Services, Northern Violence Intervention Program and The Salvation Army. In collaboration with its partners, TAP provides support, referrals and advocacy services for children and their families involved in the school communities.

TAP is also linked to an innovative South Australian Government initiative to establish Children’s Centres across the state. Children’s Centres provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for young children and their families by bringing together a mix of services for children from birth to eight years. The centres are friendly places for families to meet, learn more about parenting, and receive advice and information.

Recognised for its successful approach to providing community development programs and its existing links in the local community, Good Beginnings is the only non-government organisation directly contracted to work within a Children’s Centre in SA, providing a community development worker who ensures high levels of integration and collaboration across the site.

Gray Connect

The Gray Connect Program is facilitated by Good Beginnings within the Gray Primary School in the Northern Territory. It enables families, carers and students to come together in a common space in which families feel comfortable and valued. An open door policy reduces barriers, allows students to use the space for positive interactions during recess and lunch times, and encourages parents to access support from the Connect Facilitator in an informal way.

Programs are developed through a community development process, so that they respond directly to the needs identified by the community, including parents, students and teachers. Families are assisted with parenting support, crisis support, counselling, legal help and résumé writing.

The program runs groups focusing on self-esteem and parent/child interactions, and offers an Indigenous Art & Craft group. Through the program, families can access a range of other programs, including a Good Beginnings Play & Learn group, computer courses, a young women’s program and parenting education classes.

An important part of Good Beginnings’ community development programs are the close relationships with other organisations and programs, which provide a holistic support network for local families. The Gray Connect programs works closely with a wide range of government and non-government services, including The Smith Family, Centacare and The Red Cross.

Child Care Links

The Child Care Links initiative aims to build on initiatives already developed by the federal government. It supports early intervention approaches that prevent the entrenchment of anti-social behaviour, low self-esteem and poor motivation in children from at-risk families by providing practical assistance.

The program is located in a community-based long day care centre. Families represented at the centre are from a broad range of backgrounds including Indigenous, African, Torres Strait Islander and Vietnamese. The centre is located adjacent to a primary school and neighbourhood centre.

The Child Care Links project provides a ‘one-stop-shop’ for children’s services within the suburb, offering families with young children a range of services that ensure better outcomes for themselves and their children. The program also serves as a referral point to a range of other local services.

Working in partnership with other service providers, Child Care Links offers a range of activities, including pram walks, parent information sessions, early intervention music programs and computer skills workshops.